Sirius - Secret keeper
Sirius had woken with a pit in his stomach.
He was sure he had never been so hungry, he walked grumpily out into the kitchen expecting Remus to be up to his elbows in some delicious breakfast but no one was there. Whispering some curses his father would have belted him for Sirius went in search of Lily. It was always safer to wake her than risk the wrath of Remus - he didn’t often sleep in but every now and then it would be hours before Sirius heard movement on the other side of his door. He had only made the mistake of waking him from lie-in once, which had resulted in a black eye and a lecture from Lily on boundaries - which Sirius still didn’t think he needed.
It wasn’t his fault Remus had decided to sleep naked in October - if anything he was helping the guy and saving him from frostbite. Sirius smirked to himself as he pushed open the door to Lil's room - and if it meant he knew what Remus looked like under his boxers who was he to complain?
“Oi Lil..” He began speaking to the empty room.
Sirius felt his eyebrows pull together as his eyes bounced around the empty room. Her bed was made, folded in at the corners in a way Sirius himself could never quite achieve. There had been no note on the fridge nor the kitchen table when Sirius had entered the quiet room. He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket, the black screen refusing to brighten even as he pushed his finger harder into the keypad.
Sirius shrugged, she’d show up - she always did. His stomach growled and quickly contemplated risking waking the sleeping beast before he remembered there were now four of them.
It was still strange to him how quickly he’d adjusted to James’s presence in their lives. He actually really liked the guy, a fact that he had not kept quiet despite his valiant efforts. He pushed open the hardwood door to find the messy-haired man sleeping half under the covers, his right arm was hanging off the edge of the bed and Sirius spotted his shirt from last night discarded on the floor. He quickly bent down to pick up the dirty fabric before throwing it toward the laundry bin at the edge of the room. Good deed done for the day Sirius then proceeded to jump directly on top of the sleeping boy.
James immediately bolted upright as Sirius’s weight landed on him, causing both their heads to slam together in a way that Sirius would have found comical had it happened to someone else.
“Fuck!” James yelled, his voice bouncing against Sirius’s own. “Motherfucker”. The two stared at each other in silence before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
Once the pair had quieted James enquired as to why Sirius had woken him at all “oh, well Lily not home” he said as though this should have been apparent to the brunette.
“She’s not?” James asked, a little more concerned than Sirius thought the situation warranted. “Yeah, probably out running errands that she deems us too useless for” Sirius said with an exaggerated wave of his hand, forcing a sense of nonchalance into his voice.
“Anyway I woke you so you could make me breakfast” he said leaning back on his feet: his socks were threadbare, made of a cotton blend that itched the space between his toes.
“B-breakfast?” James clarified as he slid out of bed and pulled on the first set of clothes he could find. Sirius nodded and watched with slight disappointment as James hid his abs under a cotton tee. “I’m not a good cook” James said and Sirius couldn’t contain the groan that escaped him. “Well I'm awful, so we’re going to starve until Remus wakes up” he made sure to put extra emphasis on the word starve just in case James hadn’t thought the situation serious enough. “He hasn’t woken up yet?” James asked glancing at the clock next to his bedroom window which read 11:45. Sirius shook his head and James said quite possibly the stupidest thing Sirius had ever heard.
“Well, why don’t you wake him up?” His voice was so genuine that Sirius couldn’t help but laugh.
“You don’t wake Remus when he’s having a lay-in” Sirius coughed out between bought of laughter. “Well, why not?” James asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Because he’s a vampire” Sirius deadpanned before tilting his head to the left.
“no, no not a vampire. Something more evil” he added when he couldn’t think of anything. “Evil?” James asked eyes wide and Sirius nodded. “Most definitely, the last time I woke him up without a good reason he chased me around the house with his slipper”. James laughed again and Sirius patted himself on the back - all this comedic work done before noon, he really was a star.
“A slipper?”” James asked as he walked out of his room towards the kitchen. Sirius followed him, somewhat reluctantly seeing as the boy apparently couldn’t cook.
“Did more damage than you’d think” Sirius mumbled to himself, fingers rising to rub at the space beneath his shoulder blade where the slipper had hit him.
James was rummaging through the fridge when Sirius caught up to him.
“Why don’t we go out for brunch” he asked with his back to Sirius.
“Only if you never call it brunch again” Sirius compromised before grabbing his coat and pulling on his Docs. James smiled before hurrying out the door and onto the busy streets of London.
“This way, I know a place” James said as he led Sirius through the throng of businessmen, all mumbling about meetings and manners. The restaurant was quiet and Sirius wondered if it was even open. James didn’t wait for a host to come seat them - simply began moving towards the private spaces at the back of the restaurant.
“Umm Sir, you can’t be back here” a small woman with purple hair told James as he sat at the large wooden table in one of the back rooms. The table was long and could easily seat 8, there was a small plaque in the middle reading ‘reserved’. Sirius cringed and turned to walk back towards the street as a man bustled in through the door in front of him.
“James?!” The man cried incredulously as he looked James up and down. Sirius stared in disbelief as James kicked his feet up on the table in front of him - mud from his soles staining the hardwood before the owner’s eyes.
“Sirius this is Stan Shunpike. Stan this is Sirius” James said with a smile more callous than Sirius had ever seen on his face. The man; ‘Stan’ cringed at James’s smile but waved a subtle hello to Sirius nonetheless.
“W-what can I do for you Mr..” The man began before James cut him off abruptly.
“Stan!..” His voice was loud, and forceful in its humour. “I told you to call me James. We will be requiring lunch” he finished as he waved Sirius into the seat next to him.
Sirius sent a slightly sympathetic look to the restaurant owner as he slipped into the chair next to James. He felt slightly bad for the stuttering owner but he wanted to watch how this played out.
“O-of course Mr-J-James. What can I get you?” He asked as he fumbled with the notebook in his pocket. James shrugged him off as the fumbling man dropped his pen. “Whatever you recommend Stan” James said magnanimously and the owner nodded swiftly before running from the room as though it were on fire.
“What you got on him?” Sirius asked, curiosity getting the better of him. James smirked and Sirius had the wondrous feeling that he had underestimated him.
“Nah, I just helped him out of some trouble a few years ago,” James said as the purple-haired waitress returned to pour them some water.
“Cheers” Sirius told the waitress with a wink, she blushed predictably and James laughed as soon as she’d left the room.
They talked animatedly about football scores as the match played on the flat screen on the wall opposite. Eventually, Stan returned with their lunch - Sirius had to give it to the shaking man, he sure knew how to run a restaurant. The food was spectacular and both Sirius and James found themselves requesting seconds.
By the time they moved to stand it was three o’clock in the afternoon. “Thank you for a wonderful lunch Stan,” James said as he clapped the man on the back. Sirius watched amused as the owner looked for a polite way to hand the bill to James.
“I'm so glad I decided to help you out all those years ago…” James said wistfully before turning to Sirius in a stage whisper “Murder charges are a terrible thing aren’t they..especially when...” James was cut off abruptly as the owner shook his head and began ushering them out, thanking them profusely.
“Thank you, thank you for coming. Please come again” Stan said.
James’s shocked face was appalling “But Stan, we haven’t even paid!”. Sirius almost laughed at James’s terrible acting but Stan seemed to buy it - eyes wide he answered frantically. “No, no. You never pay when you come here J-james. We are friends, yes, yes very good friends” Stan nodded alongside his words as James placed his hand above his heart.
“I'm touched Stan, ill see you around,” James said as he grabbed Sirius’s arm and headed out once again into the streets of London.
“That was fucking sick” Sirius confessed as soon as they crossed the road. James blushed and Sirius’s head whirled at the juxtaposition that was James. He was so gentle, yet terrifying. He could extort a man for hours, then blush like a schoolgirl. Sirius laughed loudly at the image of James in a plaid skirt and pigtails.
“Don’t tell the others otherwise they’ll start expecting nice outings” James joked as they approached the flat. Sirius raised his eyebrows “You got more where that came from?..” His inquiry was answered by James’s shifting eyes. “..s’alright keep your secrets. I’ll keep this one for ya” Sirius promised as they entered the kitchen.
Remus was sitting at the kitchen table staring at a cup of coffee as though it had killed his whole family. His forehead was creased and his mouth tilted into a severe frown.
“Good morning sleepy head” Sirius called cheerily as he helped himself to the liquid steeping in the coffee pot. Remus grunted some caveman version of good morning and Sirius nodded along to the unintelligible noises.
“I slept Wonderfull, thank you for asking…” he dropped himself into the seat next to Remus as James had already taken the space opposite.
“Where’s Lily?” James interrupted and Sirius would have laughed at his desperation to find the girl, if not for the look of shame that passed over Remus’s face. Sirius’s mouth turned down, and he was suddenly filled with the awful notion that he was missing something.
“Remus?” He asked voice wary. The man simply shrugged before standing and walking back towards his room.
“What was that?” James echoed Sirius’s internal thoughts.
“I have no idea” He confessed as he heard the door to Remus’s room slam shut. James blinked at him several times before shrugging “Footie?” He asked pointing towards the TV set in the living room. “You read my mind” Sirius said with a smile, following James quickly onto the sofa.